"I was there and I was told by my God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to attack my enemies, and I did so," Isaiah Kalebu said under questioning by one of his lawyers, Ramona Brandes, in court this morning during the murder trial of the brutal rape and stabbing of South Park resident Teresa Butz July 19, 2009. Her partner, Jen Hudson, was severely injured, but survived. The judge asked Kabelu to repeat his statement, and he said, ""I was there and I was instructed (emphasis ours) by my God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to attack my enemies, and I did."

He stated that he had been seen by "several therapists" when asked if he was ever given a psychological evaluation. He repeated it because the prosecution said, "Objection" over his first time at it.

He then asked loudly to about four State Prosecutors about eight feet in front of him, "Did you kill my dog? Because you guys are always burning my a**."

At the point he was being readied to be wheeled out of the courtroom he said, "I hope you didn't kill my dog."

This was the first time the jurors had a look at him. His attire was businesslike, a mustard yellow shirt and dark tie, but he was also adorned in a taser shock sleeve and other restraints, and strapped to a wheel chair. He wore puffy fabric mitts over his hands. One of his lawyers asked Judge Michael C. Hayden if the mitts could be removed before the jurors would be let in. The judge said "no" because Kalebu swallowed a pencil the last time he appeared, and the judge pointed out there would be other objects within his reach on the table he might try to swallow this time.

Prison guards could have activated the taser when, at one point, Kalebu, 25, grabbed it and tried to remove it, but they physically restrained him instead. This did not occur in front of the jurors.

Kalebu seemed alert while his eyes panned the packed benches where the public and some family and media sat. At one point he smiled and said "Hi" to a young lady in the front row who may have been a colleague of one of his lawyers.

Kalebu is accused of entering the couple's home in West Seattle's South Park neighborhood, raping and stabbing them during a two-hour attack. Hudson has identified him and his DNA was found at the crime scene.

If found guilty, he may spend life in prison.

He is also suspected in an arson that killed his aunt and one of her tenants in Pierce County, but has not been charged due to a lack of forensic evidence.

This afternoon court concludes and the jurors will begin to decide on his verdict.

UPDATE:

The West Seattle Herald was told by a reader that Kalebu lived with his parents on Southwest Elmgrove Street in Highland Park as a teen.